Jayne Butler (Publicity Officer and Social Media Officer)

I have had an interest in drawing, colour and stitch from earliest memory. My maternal Grandmother and my mother were award wining embroiderers, mother also a spinner and weaver. My Grandfathers on both sides and my father were interested in stitch, each using stitch as a chosen medium to help overcome stress whist incarcerated as POWs during wartime. So no wonder then that fabric, paint, stitch and line became my creative first love!

Studying fashion and textiles in London during those famous fun 60s and working as a designer and lecturer for many years offered me a wide experience that I can now draw upon.

I use my painting, drawing and printmaking experiences along with my Chinese brush painting skills to enrich my textile explorations. I love the accidents that occur when ‘painting’ on silk and often use both hand and machine threads to emphasise line qualities.

I feel deeply passionate about the destruction of Earths’ resources and am keen to eliminate plastics where possible, both difficult to achieve in this age of excessive waste and non-renewable energy consumption. That said I am fascinated by modern textile led technology, the use of electronics and bio-culture in textiles is fantastic and certainly one of the potential modes for future of textiles. Light and heat responsive technology already a not uncommon feature in our fabrics!

Wherever possible I reclaim and reuse, and read and explore the philosophy behind a subject when beginning a new field of work. Our new upcoming exhibition ‘No Shrinking Violets Here’ looks at the issues surrounding Suffragette movement, which began as early as the 1700s!